At first, Disney seemed a little late to join the streaming party, as by the time they launched in November 2019 Netflix was already the biggest player in the market and there were doubts whether that customer base would be willing to add another monthly charge to their credit cards. Disney, for their part, were confident in the product and excited to start, and they even set a target of reaching 85 million subscribers by 2024. Then, a few months after launch, the pandemic hit.
Disney, as a movie studio, began to understand they have a problem on their hands, as all of the lockdowns meant the cinemas would be closed for the foreseeable future, which meant delaying the release of both completed and upcoming movies, sometimes indefinitely. But where there is a problem there is also a solution, and this one involved Disney+.
The streaming platform already had exclusive rights to all of Disney’s blockbuster hits, such as all of the Marvel and Star Wars films, and that combined with Pixar and National Geographic content meant that the cheapest and easiest way to watch all Disney content is Disney+, with millions of people stuck at home, there was only one outcome.
Disney, in order to add more wood into the fire, had announced a number of Marvel and Star Wars series that would only be accessible to watch on Disney+. That in itself generated a lot of buzz, but without franchise movies on the horizon fans flocked to the streaming service in millions. Between February 2020 and March 2021, the amount of subscribers jumped from 28.6 million to over 100 million, an unbelievable amount in such a short timespan, and one they certainly have the pandemic to thank for.
The scale of success Disney+ has experienced is only comparable to Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video, but the big question is whether this is sustainable in the long run, and I believe the answer to that question is a resounding yes.
Firstly, Disney’s biggest cash cows are not going anywhere, as there are about 11 upcoming movies planned to release in the next few years that are Marvel Cinematic Universe alone, as well as 13 TV series set in the same universe that are to be exclusively released on Disney+. If one adds to that projects in the Star Wars universe as well as Pixar movies and the odd solo hit, there is enough content to consume for quite some time.
Another factor that is sometime overlooked is the fact that Disney+ is only available in about 30 countries worldwide while Netflix is available to stream in over 190 countries, and that is a very big number. Once Disney catches up with Netflix on that front it will only be a matter of time before they will close the subscribers gap between the two, which is currently about 100 million subscribers (Netflix has a little over 203 million subscribers according to the latest figures).
Right now, Disney+ is on course to survive and thrive over the next few years, as long as they keep their exclusive projects in house and continue with the same proven quality they are now known for, the only way is up.
Resources:
